Where's Kristee Porter?

[Impiro1]

She's ONLY the greatest female athlete ever, and was on the national team in 2002. Can anyone tell me why she is not on the Olympic team? What happened?!?

[IdahoBoy]

Apparently Kristee isn't as good as your remember her being.

Seriously though, she was phenomenal. I thought she was a great athlete and when we met various times I always thought well of her.

I do believe she spent last season in Puerto Rico, where her team won the Division playoffs over University of Hawaii at-least equal athlete: Kim Willoughby's team.

[Impiro1]

So we open in Athens by getting whipped by China. More reason why the explosive Kristee Porter should have been on the Olympic team, maybe instead of some of the aging veterans. So does anyone know why the same coach who watched Porter dominate on the 2002 National Team passed her over for the Olympic team? Politics? Playing favorites? Descrimination? Stupidity? All of the above?

[cbrown1709]

I don't remember Kristee beign all that consistant, not that Keba was today also!, and I was impressed with her defense that much also. Now I'm sure she has improved more playing pro ball, but it would be nice to see another outside that can put the ball away and was consistant.

[TexasVB]

cbrown1709 said:

I don't remember Kristee beign all that consistant, not that Keba was today also!, and I was impressed with her defense that much also. Now I'm sure she has improved more playing pro ball, but it would be nice to see another outside that can put the ball away and was consistant.

Maybe after she plays pro for a while, Kristee will be team USA's "Keba" for the 2008 or 2012 olympics. One could hope.

[foreignball]

Impiro1 said:

So does anyone know why the same coach who watched Porter dominate on the 2002 National Team...

In which vball events in 2002 she dominated the National Team?

[hwy101]

A few years ago, Porter was asked by Yoshida to train in Colordao Springs after she finished playing in an international tournament. When Yoshida got back to the US, Porter was nowhere to be found in Colorado Springs. The reason given was she had to attend to family matters if I'm not mistaken. She never came back after that.

[VBCOACH]

I may not have all of my facts straight here, but this is what I heard through the ether.

Kristee and Cheryl Weaver were supposed to report to the USA Womens National Team in Colorado Springs after their pro season in Puerto Rico was over in 2003. They never showed-up. They never called or e-mailed about not showing-up. There was no contact between them and the Natinal Team. The National team had a hard time contacting them (yeah, even in this age of cell phones and e-mail.) Basicly, they blew-off the National Team. (Supposedly, they were planning to be partners in Beach Volleyball.)

After this episode, the Natinal Team has no interest in either of them anymore.

If anyone else has corrections on this, or other info, I would be very interested in hearing it. I saw Kristy play for the Chicago Thunder in the USPV, and thought that she was fantastic.

[Laulena14]

Kristee has pretty much made Puerto Rico home for now. After winning the PR championship with Carolina she signed a new contract with them for the 2004/05 season and is supposed to report on Dec. 18th.She also is presently in negotiation with a Spanish team but their season is Sept. 04 to March 05 which conflicts with her PR obligation. Carolina gave her permission to negotiate but she has to be back in PR by Jan 14 for the season opener. It is my understanding that she would also need Team USA approval to play in Spain but I don't know where that is or the negotiations with the Spanish team.
I seen her play in the PR playoffs and she is still awesome.

[Noname]

cbrown1709 said:

I don't remember Kristee beign all that consistant, not that Keba was today also!

I was hoping Ogonna would've taken Keba's place during the whole match. Ogonna was doing well for team USA.

[USAFAN]

Kristee and Cheryl both spent time with the National Team in 2003, in fact both played in a few tournaments. Montreux and a few others if I am not mistaken. I think they blew off the national team when they were supposed to come back. If I were the heads of the National Team, I would definitely reconsider trying to get these athletes back in the gym. Look at the Olympic roster right now, I think Cheryl Weaver is hands down better than Elizabeth Bachman, and could've even challenged Heather Bown. And Kristee Porter is just a huge physical talent that is dominant. I am still hopeful that one day they'll come back.

[VBCOACH]

USAFAN said:

If I were the heads of the National Team, I would definitely reconsider trying to get these athletes back in the gym. Look at the Olympic roster right now, I think Cheryl Weaver is hands down better than Elizabeth Bachman, and could've even challenged Heather Bown. And Kristee Porter is just a huge physical talent that is dominant. I am still hopeful that one day they'll come back.

Yeah, the physical talent is definately there. But they are both considered head cases, and that is why the National Team doesn't want them back.

[roofed!]

On a related note, what is the national team's position with regard to Kim W. after she turned down Colorado Spring for a pro stint in P.R. and apparently even tried to get approval to play on the P.R. national team. Is she also considered another "head case'? It's unfortunate that she did not believe she could win a spot on the team as Ogonna has proved that otherwise.

[Impiro1]

VBCOACH said:

Basically, they blew off the National Team (Supposedly, they were planning to be partners in Beach Volleyball.)

I know of only one beach match played by Kristee and Cheryl (summer 2003, Hermosa). It is totally bizzare that Kristee would blow off the National Team in a pre-Olympic year for this apparantly half hearted attempt at beach volleyball. It would seem there is something deeper than that going on for Porter to just walk away from the Athens team or for Yoshida to let a talent like her just walk. The plot thickens...